Obama promises Jordan $200M in aid

AMMAN, Jordan — President Barack Obama said he and King Abdullah II haven’t reached an answer about what to do on Syria, but he promised $200 million in new humanitarian aid Friday to help the government here manage the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Bashar Assad’s regime who’ve entered the country.

Reiterating that he sees the question of Assad’s toppling as a matter of when, not if, he also warned about the possibility of anti-American, terrorist forces taking power in the aftermath.

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“I am very concerned about Syria becoming an enclave for extremism. Because extremists thrive in chaos, they thrive in failed states, they thrive in power vacuums,” Obama said during his joint press conference with the Jordanian leader. “They don’t have much to offer when it comes to actually building things.”

The violence in Syria has been “heartbreaking,” Obama said, adding that the continued loss of civilian life, “should compel all of us to say, ‘what more can we do?’” He also called on “the American people to recognize that we have at stake here.”

Noting that he was waiting to see the results of a United Nations investigation into whether Assad’s military had used chemical weapons, Obama reiterated that if so, this would constitute the crossing of a red line, which would require a change in American involvement.

Pressed by a Jordanian reporter on why the United States hasn’t led a military intervention in Syria, Obama said he believes he would be criticized for using military force if he chose that route.

“I think it’s fair to say that the United States often finds itself, if it goes in militarily, criticized for going in militarily and, if it doesn’t go in militarily, people say, ‘Why aren’t you doing something militarily?’” the president said.

“My response at this stage is to make sure that what we do contributes to bringing an end to the bloodshed as quickly as possible” and that means working with a multilateral team including Jordan and Turkey, Obama added.

Abdullah appeared to scale back the offer of asylum he’d extended to Assad at the outset of the conflict, instead deferring to such an international consortium. The 51-year-old king even suggested the matter was out of his hands.

“I think the question is something he has to answer. First — would he be interested in asylum and he would be interested in coming to Jordan?” Abdullah asked. “It is a question slightly beyond my pay grade … something that I’m sure if it ever came up, would be something that we discussed at the level of an international meeting.”